


The Trial of Hordak

by Banana_the_Bard



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Post-Canon, circa 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:40:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24729838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banana_the_Bard/pseuds/Banana_the_Bard
Summary: The war has ended and Etheria is safe. But there are still people who must answer for their crimes. They're calling it the Trial of the Century, but in all truth, it was more like the trial of the Millennia.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 128





	The Trial of Hordak

The Throne room of Brightmoon Castle had been a venue for many exciting things, but never before had it buzzed with activity as it did today.

Representatives from all across the many nations of Ethiria had packed themselves into the gallery of the wide chamber. What few journalists existed since the war ended fought their way through the throng of onlookers to try and catch a glimpse of the proceedings.

They were calling it the Trial of the Century, but in all truth, it was more like the trial of the Millennia.

There, in the center of the grand walkway, facing Queen Glimmers throne, was Hordak. Bound by the hands and feet with chains. Eyes forward, resolute, expressionless.

Whispers echoed through the chamber. Many had never seen him in person, some doubted if he was even real or an illusion. There were many clones left stranded on the planet, they could have dressed anyone of them up, or perhaps it was a shapeshifter, they’re well known to the people of Etheria.

It couldn’t be THE Hordak, here, in Brightmoon, on trial. He was too mythic to nebulous, to dark, more an idea than a person. To capture Hordak would be like capturing the Devil Himself.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Silence fell in an instant as Queen Glimmer rang her scepter on the floor. She sat on her throne, as judge. She was young, but her eyes were sharp as they looked across the crowd. None disturbed the quiet.

At her side was the King Regent, Micha. He stood today as prosecution, and his steely glance rivaled that of his daughter. A rumor had spread to the general public that he had survived Beast Island for a decade, or more. If the crowd was in further disbelief, they did not voice it. All were silently awaiting the queen’s words.

“This Court is now in session” Queen Glimmer proclaimed. Her voice was soft, but it might as well have been a lion’s roar by the way it rang through the hall.

“We gather here today, recognize the many crimes of Lord Hordak, and decide punishment for them. Regent Micha, you may bring forth the charges.”

King Micha bowed deeply “Thank you, Your Majesty” And he began to descend the golden steps of the throne and make his way to the accused, who stood still and expressionless as ever.

The King stopped just ten paces from Hordak’s feet, and for a moment stared the alien monster down. The entire room held its breath, almost waiting for one of them to blink first. But neither did.

He then turned to address the whole room, as much as he did Hordak.

“People of Etheria, you know this man. For 30 years, he and his influence has terrorized and scarred our world. He has killed our people, and left many lands, to this day, divided and distrustful of each other. There is no count to the lives he’s ruined.”

The only sound heard was the slight scratch of the pen. Bow, the queen’s closest friend, sat at a small desk off to the side of the throne, taking down the record of the trial.

“But today,” King Micha continued, “We will seek recompense for those lives, for this planet. But we people of Etheria are not without mercy or justice. We will give the accused a chance to own his crimes, and perhaps his spirit of contrition will make lenient the Queen’s Justice.”

Micha then closed the distance to Hordak. He stood at least a head shorter than the once Lord, but he was no less fearless. The people watched again in amazement as neither blinked.

“For the record,” Micha started, “State your name.”

“Hordak.”

If the queen’s voice had created silence, Hordak’s created a vacuum. A palpable tension moved across the people as they came to realize, this was in fact he. The King in Black. The Lord of Fright. The monster in their dreams.

“Hordak,” Micha continued “Is it true, that you invaded Eritrea, a world that had done you no malice, with the intent of conquering it in the name of your creator, Horde Prime.”

“It is.”

The people looked to Hordak. His eyes never faltered from staring forward.

“Is it true that you raised every city, ever village, every home, to the ground in your wake of conquest. Never once leaving anything spared?”

“It is.”

“Is it true that you took the children of the people you killed, and raised them to be your soldiers. To fight their own people, in your name?”

“…It is.”

“Murderer!” Came a voice from the crowd, which subsequently began to erupt in talk, mostly parroting the sentiment.

Hordak did not turn to look, his eyes never faltered. He let it wash over him.

It was deserved.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“There will be order in this court!” came Glimmer’s voice over the storm of people. Again, they fell silent.

“Proceed.” Glimmer said to her father, who bowed again in acknowledgement.

“So,” Micha turned again to the defendant, “You acknowledge your actions. There is no need to present evidence, the evidence is all around us, there is not a person in the court today that you haven’t wronged. What have you to say to them? Have you any explanation for these transgressions? Any reason for what you’ve done?”

Hordak’s eyes flashed for a moment to Micha’s, causing those close enough to quietly gasp. Those who had still held out hope that this was some elaborate Hordak puppet.

He held his gaze on the King Regent for a long moment before speaking.

“When I was… created, I knew only the conquest and glory of Horde Prime. My very mind had been imprinted on, that to be ruled by Horde Prime, was what the masses needed, for the greater good.”

“That Prime was a soul light in a dark universe.”

“Our lives were made better, whole worlds were made better when they submitted to his will. This occupied my every thought.” Hordak’s eyes then slowly fell.”I would be better.”

“Your world I invaded, because every part of my being told me you would be better for his rule. Your homes I burned, because every thought I had was to make way for him to build anew. Your…”

For the first time, Hordak faltered, his brow furrowed in almost a pained expression, “Your children, I brought in to the fold of the Horde, for I believed there was no better place for them, then in the service of Horde Prime.”

Micha looked at Hordak for a long moment, then began to pace around him.

“So, you say you were created, and programmed with this behavior?”

“I was,” Hordak responded, now fully looking at the floor.

“Like some machine? You were simply following a predetermined set of orders given to you as soon as you were ‘born’?”

Hordak said nothing.

The people again became restless at this.

Micha made sweeping gestures to the people “You’re telling this court that your actions were not your own?”

“No.” Hordak said finally.

This time, it was he that silenced the court.

“My actions were my own.” He said, evenly.

Glimmer raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing.

“Then you take full responsibility for all these crimes?” asked King Micha.

Hordak’s eyes raised and stared forward again. “I do”

“…And you realize that the punishment for them may very well be death?” The King asked, this time in a sterner tone.

All was silence in the court, even the pen of the record keeper.

“I do.” Hordak finally said.

He then met Queen Gilmmers eye. “ I have lived as a slave, where my value, my very existence has hinged on the word of another. But here, I had a name, and had…”he paused, looking down again, “I was a person. I would rather die a wicked man, then live as an empty puppet.”

There were no words this time. The entire room shared a moment of silence. Many stared in disbelief of what the once Lord had said.

Finally Queen Glimmer stood up from her throne, and all eyes were on her.

“Hordak, you accept your crimes and the punishment for them? Whatever that may be?”

Now Hordak and Glimmer were staring each other down. The young queen’s gaze did not have the aged steeliness that her fathers did, but there was a fire behind her eyes. One, not necessarily of hate, but of righteous fury.

“I do”

“And do you regret any of them?”

And Hordak blinked first. “I do.”

His eyes lowered again,” This world was more of a home to me then Prime ever was. Here I was free, I was…”

He looked to the gallery above, to one particular face.

She hadn’t made a noise the whole time, The Princess from Dryl, Entrapta, her insectoid welding mask had been down since she entered the room, long before the trial had started. It concealed any expression she might have, but just at the edge of vision, two clear streams of tears were traveling down from the mask.

Hordak smiled faintly, but it was not a cold monster’s smile, like the people would expect, but a warm gentle smile.

“I was in love, here.” Entrapta flipped her mask up to reveal a face red from quiet sobbing. Her eyes were fixated on Hordak’s. To the people’s credit, they made no comment.

Hordak’s expression turned to pain as he looked down, his posture lowering. “And I squandered it, abused it. I… I found my heaven, and I destroyed it. Therefore I don’t deserve to be here.”

Hordak’s eyes met the queens again. She looked at the alien for a moment longer, her expression unreadable.

“Very well.“ She turned to sit back down. “Then I have heard enough. I am ready to make my judgment.”

The court again erupted into whispers that were quickly silenced yet again by the slam of Glimmers scepter.

The fire returned to Glimmers eyes again as she looked down at the criminal. In that moment, those that knew her no longer saw ‘Glimmer’, they saw ‘The Queen’, handing down her justice.

“Hordak. You have hurt so many lives,” The Queen began,”you have wounded the planet, taken our homes and our… loved ones from us. These crimes can not go unpunished.”

There was a general murmuring of agreement from the gallery.

“It is easy to say that you are a monster,” she continued, “Passing on nothing but destruction. That you will never be anything else.”

Hordak closed his eyes.

“It is easy to say, but it is not truthful”

Hordak looked back to The Queen, bemused.

“I have seen people’s capacity to change. If they desire it. I have seen your kind’s capacity for good.”

Hordak was surprised at this. Many had heard the story of the rogue Horde clone that had aided the rebellion. Most hadn’t believed it was true.

The murmuring grew again, but was quickly dispatched by the continuing speech of The Queen.

“As such, as Queen of Brightmoon, and with the full authority of The Princess Alliance, I sentence you Hordak to be banished.”

Hordak rose to his full height again. He blinked, as if to shake away a dream, or whatever strange illusion he was experiencing.

The people gasped and whispered to each other in incredulity. In the gallery, Princess Entrapta had wiped her eyes and was beginning to vibrate with joy but was quickly quelled by a close friend, Princess Mermista.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

All was quiet in the courtroom again.

“You will be banished, from Etheria and her Moons. You will be given a ship, supplies and whatever personal effects you wish to take with you, and you will leave Etheria behind.”

The Queen leaned forward “If you cause war in Heaven, you will be thrown from it.”

“And never shall you set foot on this world again,” The Queen continued, leaning back “Till there may come a time when the People of Etheria can forgive your crimes. That is my Judgment.”

The Queen rang her scepter against the floor one last time, and the court was adjourned.

As expected, the room erupted into hushed conversation, and the scribbling of journalists.

Two guards grabbed a bewilder looking Hordak by each arm and began to lead him away to his holding cell (I.E. The guest bedroom) with Micha in tow, acting as both Bailiff and Prosecutor for this trial.

People began to mill about the throne room, discussing the proceedings, no doubt voicing their own opinions on it, both for, and against.

The Queen sighed, and Glimmer reemerged, a pained exhausted look on her face.

“Man, how did mom do that all the time?” She said to herself. It was enough just to hand down the sentence, but having to do it for an audience, and maintain composure the entire time? What was Angela drinking to make her cooler than a cucumber? And where could Glimmer get some?

“Not the verdict people were hoping for, I think.” Came a voice from right above Glimmer’s head.

“The verdict was guilty, which is, in fact, what everyone was hoping for. It’s the sentence that has people reeling. You know you can get in a lot of trouble for being up here with me, Catra?”

The air shimmered for a moment at the top of the throne and a young woman emerged from thin air, the shadow of an alien cat stalking away.

Catra had been perched atop the golden throne. The guards flanking them quickly readied their spears but were waved away by Glimmer as quickly as they did.

“True, I was expecting a hanging, or at least 100 years of hard labor. But now he gets to sail off into the sunset like a… uh, sailor.”

“Yeah well, I thought about it, and I mean I REALLY thought about it. But at the end of the day, everything I’ve seen. Everything I’ve learned, about where he comes from. I just can’t…”

“Find it in you to hate him anymore?” offered Catra.

“Watching someone have their mind erased can really humanize them.”

Catra shook her head, “Tisk, tisk, tisk, a year into the job and already you’re going soft.”

“Are you questioning the Queens Justice?”

Catra hopped from the top of the throne and landed gracefully at the foot of its steps, instantly shifting into an exaggerated bow, “Oh of course not, your majesty. What the queen says is law! Like last week when you said there were 10 moons, when actually there are twe-”

“Ok, I get the point.” Glimmer said getting up from her throne and making her way down.

Bow approached as well, rolling up the court record into the shaft of an arrow and putting it in his quiver. “I thought you would be all for bad guys getting a second chance?”

“Hey, I am, and I wasn’t bad, I was just, um.” Carta waved vaguely “Emotionally distraught and morally complex.”

“Ah-huh,” Bow said, and just after Glimmer sneezed in a way that sounded eerily similar to someone saying ‘bullshit’.

“Hey, your lucky Adora came to bat for you otherwise we were gonna have to put you on trial too.” Bow looked a little more serious now.

“Yeah, I know.” Catra, looked away, embarrassed. She had made great strides the the recent months, worked really hard to make amends for all she’s done, and to the people she had hurt, but the facts still remain, she had been a key player in Hordak’s army, leading several attacks.

There were certainly people that wanted to see Catra on the chopping block.

But Adora had intervened. She volunteered to be Catra’s warden, to rehabilitate her. No one would question a request from She-Ra, and if the Hero of Legends wanted to take a criminal under her wing to teach her the error of her ways, who were they to stop her?

‘Warden’ thought Glimmer ‘That sure is a fancy word for ‘girlfriend’’ she thought sarcastically.

“I guess it pays to be the one macking on She-Ra” Bow said, poked at Catra’s shoulder, teasingly

Catra’s ears began to turn red, and lucky she had fur so her red cheeks were hidden.

“That’s right!” Glimmer added on “Catra gets special treatment. And, if she’s lucky, she gets ‘Special Treatment’ twice a night.”

“You guys suck!” Catra said finally.

“Listen Catra, we can move past the whole enemy thing as long as you keep working on it and showing us you’re really making an effort to change.”

Bow patted her on the back “But you and Adora? We’re gonna tease you about that for a while.”

Catra was now visibly embarrassed, but she couldn’t hide her smile either. “Yeah, yeah.”

“It was actually Entrapta that begged me to consider the banishment option.” Glimmer said, mercifully changing the subject.

“Really?” Bow said. Catra’s ears perked up at this.

Glimmered sighed “Yeah, she was outside my window all last night, and the night before, listing all of the reasons why Hordak shouldn’t be put to death. She had the list alphabetized and sorted by category.”

“Long list?” said Catra.

“It’s Entrapta, what do you think?”

“That makes me wanna ask,” Bow began, his eyes narrowing,” Are Entrapta and Hordak… You know,” He bumped both of his hands together, “A thing?”

Catra’s face split into a wide, toothy, grin. The kind of grin only a felinoid could make.

“OH! Man!” she began “Let me tell you! They are so a thing!”

Bow’s eyes widened in horror and Glimmers brow furrowed in bewilderment.

“But, like…but, like… but, like, really!?” Glimmer asked.

“Oh yeah. When she was in the Horde, she would be the only one allowed in his lab. They would talk to each other for hours. One time I saw her sitting in his lap. They were just talking about just tech and stuff, but she was sitting on his lap and he was, like, really looking intensely into her eyes. And…”

“Ok!” said Bow, “I don’t actually need to hear this. I’m gonna go and put this court record into the archives now. I’ll see you guys later.” Bow then sped off, trying to conceal his shocked expression.

Catra and Glimmer watched him flee the conversation, the former giggling to herself. The latter was still a little confused.

“But, like… Really?” said Glimmer

“Yes.” said Catra.

“Glimmer!” said Entrapta, bounding directly into the queen, who had to once again wave away advancing guards.

“You didn’t sentence Hordak to death! I knew you’d see, he’s can be better, he just needs to put all that planet conquering business behind him, and get a new hobby, like Space Exploration!” The older woman said, practically hopping up and down.

Catra still remembered how dumbstruck she was when she found out that Enrapta was more than ten years her elder. It wasn’t just her youthful energy, it was the fact that she was so short which threw Catra off.

“Well Entrapta, you made a pretty good case.” said Glimmer, “A very long, long, but good case.”

“Hey, you saved a life today, Entrapta.” Said Catra, “You should be proud of that!”

“I am!” Said Entrapta, excitement elevating her into the air on her hair. Then she lowered down and had a serious expression on her face. “And speaking of life.”

Entrapta started fidgeting with her hands. “I think… I think I’m gonna go with him.”

She pulled her mask down to cover the blush forming on her face.

Glimmer’s eyes widened and so did Catra’s grin.

“You want to go with Hordak?” asked Glimmer in disbelief.

“Yeah!” Entrapta flipped her helmet backup and her face was back to its natural excitement. She began to raise herself up to her hairs full length, her arms spread wide. “I had my first taste of space travel and now I’m hooked! I wanna see it all, out there. Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, boldly go where no one has gone before!”

She marveled at the thought of space, then noticed the two girls staring at her and composed herself. “Plus, I could be Hordak’s warden, like Adora is for Catra. My records clean as a whistle!”

“Hey, you’ve committed some war crimes too you know!” said Catra, as if it was a normal thing to say.

“Prisoner of war, can’t be tried for anything I did, under coercion.”

“What about your kingdom?” asked Glimmer.

“There’s only three people there, the rest are robots. The people can have my castle.”

“You weren’t being coerced, you willingly helped out Hordak the second he mentioned tech.” Catra added.

“Can you prove that in a court of law?”

“Ugh. I don’t wanna go through another trial.” Said Glimmer. “Entrapta, you’re pardoned.” As she maid a sign in the air “ZimZim Zalabim, you’re pardoned, go have fun in space!”

“Yay!” Entrapta’s expression then softened, and she began to tear up a bit. Her fidgeting started again and she looked away to wipe a tear from her eye, a smile on her face the whole time.

“I’m gonna miss you guys.” She said quietly.

Glimmer’s and Catra’s eyes widened and they exchanged a glance before closing the distance to Entrapta and putting their hands on her shoulders.

“Hey, we’ll miss you too.” said Catra.

“Yeah, and you’re not banished, you can come to visit anytime.” said Glimmer softly. But then her face hardened. ”But Hordak has to stay on the ship. He can’t set foot on this planet at all!”

Entrapta chuckled, “That can be done!” and she and Glimmer exchanged a nice long hug. Entrapta was still wiping her tears a bit when she pulled away and Glimmer smiled back at her.

“By the way. You and Hordak?” Glimmer began, clumsily.

“Hum? What about him?” Entrapta replied with genuine curiosity.

“Are you and he… I’m not sure how to say this… A Thing?” asked Glimmer.

“A…Thing?”

Glimmer nodded.

“A thing?” Entrapta pondered this, an expression on her face like she’d just been asked what the very secrets of the universe are.

“OOOOOOOOHH, a thing!” she said finally “You know, we…” Entrapta trailed of in to giggling, her face turning a bit red as she did. Then almost instantly she was composed again, as composed as she usually is, at least.

“Oh you know, that might be inappropriate to talk about with young people like yourselves. Anyway I gotta get home and start packing. Gotta get all my good experiments together for testing in zero g! Bye guys.”

And with that, Glimmer and Catra watched Entrapta slink away, walking on her hair, Glimmer’s eyes wide, Catra’s grin wider.

A moment passed between the two before one turned to the other.

“Oh, they fuckin.” said Glimmer.

“OH, THEY FUCKIN!” said Catra, considerably louder.


End file.
